Archive for 'Opinion'

Op/Ed: It’s the Avatar, Stupid.

Magic ingredients for a compelling metaverse by Tizzers Foxchase Since the dawn of online gaming, the driving force which has kept players glued to their computer for hours has been the advancement of one's character by means of levels and better items. Many of you can probably the recall the satisfying feeling of accomplishment when [...]

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Opinion: Public Spaces

by Jessica Holyoke The Swiss recently passed a referendum that banned the building of minarets in their country.  As discussed on Slate, part of this is because the Swiss, like most European countries, are worried about Islamic extremism.  Especially as Muslims in Europe do not integrate to the same extent as Muslims in the United [...]

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Opinion: I’m a PG

by Jessica Holyoke When the creation of an Adult Content policy first started being discussed by the Lindens, a campaign started saying "I am Adult Content."  Residents were up in arms about losing their access to Adult Content.  And it has happened more than once since I have become a resident here.  But if everyone [...]

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A Techno-Communist Manifesto

Autonomous chicken-collective lags Linden lackey Neva by Pappy Enoch, Techno-Revolutionist I salute all working avatars of the fake worlds!   A specter is haunting Second Life – the specter of Prokofy Neva. Yes, I mean the same avatar who claims to defy the cabal of Linden plutocrats by being an anti-collectivist “free-market capitalist.” I laugh in [...]

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Saving Time in a Virtual Bottle

How is your time in Second Life best spent? by FoxM Ember What is time?  “Time,” measured in minutes and hours, days and weeks – even here in SL.  Is it simply an awareness of events and occurrences sorted in our minds in such a way, as to allow us to perceive them in an [...]

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Op/Ed: What Does Winning Look Like for Eros?

The real point of the class-action complaint against Linden Research by Jessica Holyoke Linden Research is due shortly to file something in response to Eros, LLC v. Linden Research.  It could be an answer where the Lab states their response to the claims made by Stroker as a class representative or it could be preliminary [...]

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How The Simulacrum Killed Carmen Hermosillo

The first to warn are the first affected by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk In H+ magazine's  A Virtual Life. An Actual Death Mark Stephen Meadows and Peter Ludlow make a compelling case that Carmen Hermosillo’s real life death last year was most likely the sort of suicide Carmen had warned against when she wrote [...]

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Op/Ed: Virtual Pirate Faces Real Life – The Next Level

by Kris Dibou For years now, I have enjoyed a virtual life in paradise.  I have been the poet, the pirate, the writer, the builder, graphic artist, programmer, cowboy, musician, editor, and game designer of sorts.  All this and more; yet, in the outside world (which we refer to as 'rl') I have not been successful at [...]

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Op/Ed: Property Rights, Advertising, and Freedom in Second Life

by IntLibber Brautigan Advertising is a necessary part of Second Life, just like it is a necessary part of the internet. Advertising monetizes (i.e. makes profitable) an investment in a website or sim parcel that otherwise could not be. Why else does Linden Lab charge us to list classified ads in search? Why else do [...]

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Op/Ed: Second Life Needs Ad Farmers

Falling land prices  – Donut & Reverse Donut Hole Traps – The Arbor Project  – ROBO Marx permaban by IntLibber Brautigan For years there has been an ongoing conflict between two mainland commercial forces: the landbot runner and the ad farmer. The land bot runner makes his money by hedging low land prices and selling [...]

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